Thiruvananthapuram: The state of Kerala is all set to go for polls in all 20 constituencies on April 10. With high voltage election campaigns coming to an end on April 8, both the LDF (Left Democratic Front) and UDF (United Democratic Front) are hoping to improve their performance.
Political experts in the state feel that there will not be a major sweep by one side like what happened in previous elections. In 2004 it was a major sweep by the CPI (Marxist) led LDF where congress led UDF could manage only one seat. On the other hand in 2009 UDF had bagged 16 of the 20 constituencies.
Six ministers of state from the UPA government - Shashi Tharoor, Kodikunnil Suresh, KC Venugopal, KV Thomas, Mullapally Ramachandran and E Ahamed of IUML - are seeking re-elections from their respective constituencies.
Political analyst BRP Bhaskar said that both sides are weak as there have been many allegations against both fronts. He added that there will not be much of a gap between both the sides. "In Kerala we cannot see a major shift in the mindset of the people and their thinking. Like in all elections they will be rallying either behind the LDF or the UDF."
Political analyst and professor of political science J Prabhash said that compared to when the election campaigns began now the left front has a slight advantage over the UDF. The advantage LDF factors are the recent High Court observation against the CM office and veteran leader VS Achuthanandan coming all out and campaigning for the party.
Thiruvananthapuram is one constituency in the state where there is a tough triangular contest. Sitting MP Shashi Tharoor is taking on CPI's Bennet Abraham and BJP's senior leader O Rajagopal. Here the caste card is also being played out well. The left has roped in Dr Bennet Abraham of the Nadar-Christian Community to reach out to them as they form a major part of the voters.
Political experts feel that if O Rajagopal manages majority of the Nair votes and if there is a consolidation of the Christian-Nadar votes for Bennet Abraham then it will be advantage left. Experts feel that even if Tharoor wins this time his margin of nearly one lakh last time will come down. His fortunes will also depend on the stand of the women voters in the constituency after allegations related to the death of Sunanda Pushkar as they were his staunch supporters last time.
Another tight competition is at Alappuzha where sitting MP KC Venugopal is pitted against left candidate CB Chandrababu. Chandrababu is well known in the constituency and has a unblemished public life for about three decades. There were also allegations against Venugopal in the solar scam case. He had centred his campaign around the developmental initiatives he has brought to the constituency including administrative sanction for completing the Alappuzha bypass and manned level crossings at about 118 points.
An interesting fight is on at the Vadakara constituency where sitting MP Mullappally Ramachandran is contesting against AN Shamseer of the LDF. This is the first major elections after Revolutionary Marxist Party leader TP Chandrashekaran was murdered. The issue is still live and UDF candidate Mullapally is trying to make the best out of it. RMP also has their candidate for elections.
Another battle for pride is fought at Kollam constituency where the fight is not really between the left and the congress but it is between two strong leaders who were under one front for three decades.
RSP has walked out of the LDF after ending their 34-year-old relation due to issues in seat sharing and joined the UDF just days before the election. Here the contest is between CPI (M) politbureau member MA Baby and RSP'S NK Premachandran who is the UDF candidate. Both leaders are equally acceptable for the people of Kollam. However political analysts still fell that Baby has a slight edge over N K Premachandran.
Four sitting MP's of the left front - A Sampath, MB Rajesh, PK Biju and P Karunakaran - are seeking fresh mandate from their respective constituencies. Another high profile candidate in the poll fray is former union minister MP Verendrakumar of Socialist Janata (Democratic) who is taking on MB Rajesh of left in Palakkad.
BJP had tried hard to win a seat from the state and their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and senior leader LK Advani was in the state on the last day of election campaign. But political experts fell that BJP may no make headway even this time and their manifesto has also upset many people in the state. Even the Aam Aadmi party will not be in a position to open an account from the state.
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